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26 Companies and Advocacy Groups have Petitioned Valve to Lift Ban on Blockchain Games

cryptoknowmics.com 27 October 2021 02:30, UTC

Fight for the Future, the Blockchain Game Alliance, Enjin, and 26 blockchain game companies have criticized video game company Valve for refusing to allow content related to cryptocurrencies or nonfungible tokens (NFTs) on its Steam marketplace.

26 Companies and Advocacy Groups Urge Valve to Reverse Its Ban on Blockchain Game

According to an open letter published on Monday by Fight for the Future, the companies and projects are requesting that Valve reverse its decision to "prohibit an entire category of software from the Steam platform" and give crypto and blockchain technology a chance. On October 14, Steam updated its partner onboarding process to state that no blockchain-based applications that "issue or allow the exchange of cryptocurrencies or NFTs" would be permitted.

Enjin chief technology officer Witek Radomski said “The potential blockchain gaming ecosystem will grow to be orders of magnitude larger than it is now, by the end of this decade."

President of the Blockchain Game Alliance, Sebastien Borget, stated “Blockchain games are pioneering a number of new concepts that will invigorate the gaming industry for players and publishers alike. To cut off this burgeoning sector at such a crucial stage of development is to ignore the remarkable progress we have achieved this year while creating unfair access to market for incumbents.”

Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), according to Fight for the Future, can help make blockchain games "more decentralized, democratic, interactive, player-focused systems." In addition, the group stated:

“Please consider changing your stance on this issue and permit tokens and, more broadly, the use of blockchain tech on the Steam platform. Don’t ban blockchain-based games on Steam.”

The Ban could be Financially Disadvantageous to the Company

It was reported earlier this month that Valve's decision to ban content related to NFTs and blockchain games could be financially detrimental as the technology grows in popularity. For the third quarter of 2021, there were 754,000 unique active wallets connected to gaming decentralized applications. Many games allow players to earn real-world token rewards and trade in-game NFTs, paving the way for further crypto adoption.

Witek Radomski, Enjin's chief technology officer, stated in a Reddit AMA. “With blockchain, you can't put the genie back in the bottle and try to centralize it. Blockchain gaming needs interoperability in order to flourish.”

He further noted;

“The potential blockchain gaming ecosystem will grow to be orders of magnitude larger than it is now, by the end of this decade. It's in everyone's best interest to work together to create well-thought-out, interoperable standards so the multiverse isn't too fragmented.”

On its Steam marketplace, Valve has previously targeted cryptocurrency and blockchain. The company removed a game in 2018 that allegedly overtook users' computers to mine cryptocurrency. Valve announced in 2016 that it would accept Bitcoin (BTC) payments but later discontinued this practice due to high fees and volatility.

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